“He is not here, but He is risen…”
A Christian missionary to a Muslim country was talking to a Muslim. The Muslim said: “We have a tomb that contains the body of Mohammed; you Christians do not have that.” The missionary replied: “That’s the point. Mohammed is dead, but Jesus rose from the dead and His tomb is empty.” The resurrection of Jesus authenticates at least three aspects of the Christian faith. The resurrection authenticates Jesus’ claims for Himself. Jesus did not go about Palestine loudly proclaiming, “I am the Messiah,” but He did make that claim. One example of this claim is found in a statement that Jesus made to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well in John 4. In John 4:25 the woman mentioned the Messiah and in verse 26 Jesus replied, “I that speak to thee am He.” There are other places in the gospels where Jesus made this claim, but this incident is sufficient to prove this point. When Jesus arose from the grave, His messiahship was authenticated. Keep in mind that Jesus never attempted to prove who and what He was, but the events spoke for themselves. The resurrection authenticates our claims about Jesus. First, we need to establish that the resurrection is a well-documented fact. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:5-6 :“And after that He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: after that, He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once…” There were at least five hundred and twelve witnesses to the fact that Jesus arose from the grave. Besides that, His body, obviously, was never found. If a body had been found, I would not be writing this article. Second, everything that we teach and preach depends on the fact that Jesus is still alive. In 1 Corinthians 15:13-14 Paul wrote: “But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen. And if Christ be not risen, then our preaching is vain, and your faith is also vain.”In verse 20 Paul wrote: “But now is Christ risen from the dead…” Third, 2,000 years later we still have a Messiah to proclaim. Jesus is alive, and because He is alive, people can have eternal life through faith in Him. The resurrection makes our message valid, and will continue to do so until Christ returns. The resurrection authenticates the importance of Christ’s Church. When Jesus ascended to the Father, He did not leave a group of individuals with no idea of what to do. He left His church to carry on in His stead. In all four gospels, Jesus challenged believers to witness to the world. In Acts 1:8, Jesus told His disciples that they would be witnesses in “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Jesus left His church together and He left His church with a missionary purpose. He told His church, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” As Christ’s church, we do not serve a martyred Jesus; rather, we serve the risen Lord. Why is church important today? The church is important today because she is the church of the Living Lord, and has the responsibility of witnessing to people about Jesus and winning them in Him. The fact is that the tomb is still empty. The claims of the Bible about Jesus are authentic. Our claims about Jesus are authentic, and the message of the church is still authentic. These facts should enable us to have a happy Easter. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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